Wheel pants/axle length

[crwallace1]

I have my engine mount and landing gear sitting on my bench. I’m trying to get as much done before I bolt it all to the fuselage. I will have to cut the axles to the right length for wheel pant installation. Can I do this now, or should I wait until I’m ready to install the pants in the distant future? How do you determine axle length?

[Bryan Cotton]

Some notes on this:
1) Make sure the races are pressed all the way home into the wheels. If I did it over I'd use a hydraulic press. Otherwise your aerobrakes (if that is what you have) will slowly do the job for you. You will need to keep adjusting the nut, adding washers, and may need to redrill the cotter pin hole.

2) when they are pressed all the way in you can drill the axle for the cotter pin.

3) figure out how wide your wheelpants are. That can be used to figure out where to cut the axle. Should be enough meat outboard of the cotter pin to drill and tap for a #10 bolt.

4) use locking nutplates on the mounting plate.

5) Use a #10 bolt with a drilled head and add some feature on the wheelpants for safety wire.

[T41pilot]

I would suggest to be cautious and cut the absolute minimum off the axles in case you ever decide to upgrade to 5.00 x 5 tires. I cut mine down to fit the original pant size and got bit in the butt when I found I had to widen the pants to fit my new tires. I also spit a bolt out during a landing because I had apparently not left enough thread for a good grip. The bolt had actually stripped on the way out and my wheel pant got damaged in the process. I fly off grass so the gear gets more bumps and flex. So no more wheel pants for me for now. Leave as much thread on the axles as you possibly can for best results if you ever land on grass.